open science for open societies - os4os

What open science for open societies - os4os does

Open science for open societies – os4os gemeinnützige GmbH is a German non-profit limited liability company registered at Amtsgericht Stuttgart (HRB 771390), headquartered at Mathildenstr. 10/1, Ludwigsburg, and operating the openscience.eu web platform as its principal public-facing initiative, with additional domains at www.openscience.de, www.openscience.be, and www.openscience.ro. The platform functions as a media and knowledge-sharing hub for open science, publishing educational articles on FAIR principles, metadata standards, open access publishing, and digital skills, alongside a Media Bulletin section that runs press releases from European research projects. It is operated by a small team led by Managing Directors Brigitte Braun and Reiner Braun, and supports dissemination and communication work inside Horizon Europe and Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking consortia, with featured projects including FEAST (food systems transformation, 5-year Horizon Europe), HEAL Network (agri-food systems transformation, Baden-Württemberg BEGIN-funded), SPLENDOR (lignin-to-bio-aromatics circular bioeconomy, 36-month CBE JU), and VERITY (trust in scientific results).

The core technology is a Drupal-based content publishing platform, technically implemented by the external agency FORMENformen, that organizes editorial content into article, infrastructure, project, and media-bulletin sections indexed against open science topics (FAIR, persistent identifiers, DOI, repositories, Open Research Europe, policies, ethics, digital skills). The product surface is non-transactional: access to all articles, guides, and press releases is free and self-serve, with no API, app, or SDK exposure.

The business model is non-commercial. OS4OS appears to operate through grant funding, EU project budgets, and donations tied to its communications and dissemination role, with revenue treated as professional services income rather than product sales. There is no pricing model, no paying customer list, and no disclosed revenue or headcount; the market is open to all European researchers, research managers, universities, media specialists, and industry stakeholders seeking best-practice guidance and project visibility.

Name

open science for open societies - os4os

Legal name

open science for open societies – os4os gemeinnützige GmbH

Website

https://openscience.eu

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

German non-profit that operates openscience.eu, a free knowledge-sharing platform publishing articles on FAIR principles and metadata standards alongside press coverage of European research projects in food, bioeconomy, health, and agri-food.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ludwigsburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Non-profit organization funding: As a gemeinnützige (non-profit) GmbH registered in Germany, the organization appears to operate through project funding, grants, and donations rather than commercial revenue generation. It publishes open science content and facilitates European research projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

open science for open societies - os4os operates the openscience.eu platform, a non-profit knowledge-sharing and content-publishing hub for the open science community. The platform publishes articles on FAIR principles, metadata standards, and open access publishing, along with a Media Bulletin featuring press releases from European research projects. It serves researchers, universities, and research organizations by providing free access to educational content and project showcases covering food systems, circular bioeconomy, health, and other research domains.

Product overview

The openscience.eu platform is a content publishing and knowledge-sharing platform run by open science for open societies - os4os, a non-profit organization. The platform consists of the core openscience.eu website, featuring a Media Bulletin for press releases, an Articles/Infrastructure section with educational content on FAIR principles and metadata standards, and coverage of various research projects including FEAST (food systems), SPLENDOR (circular bioeconomy), HEAL (agri-food transformation), and VERITY (scientific trust). The platform serves as a hub for researchers to share knowledge, learn about open science best practices, and discover open science projects and initiatives across Europe.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• openscience.eu Platform A non-profit, free-access platform designed to make open science easier and exchange knowledge about the latest trends and best practices in the field of open science. It targets researchers, universities, research organizations, media specialists, and industry leaders, offering articles, media bulletins, and project showcases as a centralized hub for the open science community.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• FEAST (Food systems that support transitions to healthy and sustainable diets)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHorizon Europe funded 5-year project focused on transforming European food systems. OS4OS features FEAST summer schools (2025, 2026), Belgium food industry assessments, and food sustainability research across European regions.
• HEAL Network (Health-oriented agri-food systems transformation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork funded by Ministry of Science, Research and Arts Baden-Württemberg's BEGIN program. Conducts pilot studies on food systems transformation in Metabolregion Rhein-Neckar, featuring regional workshops and sustainability action items.
• SPLENDOR (Sustainable Production of Lignin-Derived End-Products via Depolymerisation Reactions)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner36-month European research project funded under Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), focused on converting black liquor lignin into bio-aromatic compounds. Project involves prototype development at 250 L/h scale.
• STRANE InnovationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunication and dissemination partner for SPLENDOR project. Contact: Khadija BENAICH, [email protected]
• LignoCitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpen innovation and test site in Sweden for lignin processing. Location for prototype testing of SPLENDOR's 250 L/h demonstration unit under industrial conditions.
• SciensanomajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBelgian research institute leading the FEAST project assessment of Belgium's food industry commitments on health and sustainability, using BIA-Obesity and BIA-Sustainability frameworks.
• Heidelberg UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in HEAL Network, coordinating the Health-oriented agri-food systems transformation initiative in Baden-Württemberg's Metabolregion Rhein-Neckar.
• Momentum NovumsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerStrategy consultancy that co-designed and organized the 17 Rooms Workshop for the HEAL Network in Metabolregion Rhein-Neckar.
• Rhine-Neckar Regional AssociationsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation partner for the HEAL Network's regional workshop on agri-food systems transformation in Metabolregion Rhein-Neckar.
• food.net:z - Lebensmittelnetzwerk Rhein-Neckar e.VsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFood network association in Rhine-Neckar region, cooperating on HEAL Network workshop and regional food systems sustainability initiatives.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Zenodo (CERN): Open repository for research outputs hosted by CERN; directly comparable as a free, non-commercial open science publishing and preservation platform.
• OpenAIRE: EU-funded open science infrastructure provider offering services and a research graph for FAIR data and open access; directly comparable as a European non-profit open science platform supporting Horizon Europe projects.
• Open Science Framework (Center for Open Science): Open-source platform for sharing research workflows, preprints, and data; directly comparable open science workflow platform serving researchers worldwide.
• bioRxiv/medRxiv: Open access preprint servers for life sciences and medical research; directly comparable free, non-commercial open science research-sharing platforms.

Emerging players

• ScienceOpen: Open access research sharing and publishing platform with discovery features; comparable as a discovery- and dissemination-oriented open science platform targeting researchers.

Broad incumbents

• ResearchGate: Large social network for scientists to share and discover research; comparable in serving the same European researcher audience with research discovery and dissemination features.
• Frontiers: Large open access scholarly publisher with broad journal portfolio; comparable as a major commercial open access publisher that OS4OS covers/spotlights.
• F1000Research: Open research publishing platform with open peer review; broader incumbent offering end-to-end open access publishing workflows comparable in spirit to OS4OS's content focus.
• PLOS (Public Library of Science): Established open access scholarly publisher; broader incumbent operating commercially in the same open access scholarly publishing space OS4OS covers editorially.
• European Open Science Cloud (EOSC): EU-wide federation for open science services and data infrastructure; broader incumbent that OS4OS complements through dissemination and best-practice content rather than infrastructure provision.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/os4os

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about open science for open societies - os4os